Are we entertained to death? ₦50m was waiting and we missed it — by Zainab Suleiman

I saw this headline and it broke me a little:

“First Lady’s ₦50m Community Green Challenge closes without entries.”

₦50,000,000.

For planting trees. For building parks. For turning that dirty space in your community into something your children will be proud of.

And the report says: no entries.

Let’s be honest with ourselves for two minutes.

1. We are the most informed—and the most distracted—generation

We have the internet in our pockets. YouTube University is free. ChatGPT can teach you proposal writing. Grants, bootcamps and opportunities drop every week.

Yet we use that same phone to chase gist, political fights and memes.

We can quote the last tweet from a politician.

But can we quote the last grant our community applied for?

We know every celebrity scandal.

But we don’t know the deadline for opportunities that could change our community.

2. Criticism without creation keeps us broke

It’s good to hold leaders accountable. It’s good to laugh. Nigeria is hard—we deserve joy.

But when entertainment, criticism and gossip become our full-time job, we miss what’s quietly sitting on the table.

While we were arguing online, ₦50m closed.

While we were waiting for “government to do something,” the thing government put out expired.

While we were sharing memes, someone else in another state was submitting a proposal.

Opportunity doesn’t shout. It whispers. And noise drowns it out.

3. The truth no one wants to hear

Nobody is coming to save us with a viral tweet.

The future will belong to young people who use their 20s and 30s to build—skills, businesses and communities.

The Green Challenge was not about politics. It was about the environment, jobs, contracts and legacy.

And ₦50m didn’t disappear. It just went back because no one reached for it.

4. A three-point reset so we don’t miss the next one

Guard your attention: Your attention is currency. Unfollow 10 pages that drain you. Follow 10 people or communities building things.

Assign an “opportunity person”: Every youth group, church group and campus club needs one person whose job is to find grants and submit applications every week.

Create more than you consume: For every three things you watch, make one. Document your project. Apply for that opportunity. Post your work, not just your opinion.

Nigeria needs your anger. But it needs your hands more.

Let this be the last time we say there are no opportunities.

Let the next headline be: “Community of youths win ₦50m to transform their area.”

That can be us. But only if we close one app, open one document and start one thing.

— Suleiman is a medical doctor and public affairs analyst.